May 11, 2006
Blueprinting The Human Brain
There is no scientific study more vital to man than the study of his own brain. Our entire view of the universe depends on it.
Francis H. C. Crick, September 1978
At the Cognitive Computing conference this week at IBM's Almaden Institute, scientists from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Lausanne, Switzerland describe how a 3D computer simulation of 10,000 neurons firing in the human brain produces a terabyte of data--a fraction of what it would take to map the brain's billions of neurons in algorithms. The project is an attempt to create a blueprint of the human brain to advance cognition research.
Last year, EPFL bought a multimillion-dollar model of IBM's Blue Gene/L supercomputer for the two-year project, which is being conducted in Switzerland. The group only recently simulated the firing of 10,000 neurons in a single column in the neocortex, the largest area of the human brain governing high-level thinking and action. (A column typically contains 100,000 neurons.)
To deal with the enormous amount of data generated from the project, the group relies on visualization tools to locate and earmark interesting results in the computations for further research. Blue Brain bought a supercomputer from SGI to create a small media center to display the 3D simulations, which is described by scientists as "like sitting inside the brain."
The EPFL is trying to convince the Swiss government to buy two more Blue Genes to handle the data. They are quite expensive even with a generous discount from IBM. The goal is to compute the billions of neurons in the brain.
So far, Blue Brain has written two software packages for cognitive computing. The 3D simulation showed only about 10 percent of the 10,000 neurons firing, but the simulation is "going to get a thousand times better" with new technology. The software can now zoom in to a single cell and examine exactly how the neuron is firing.
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